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Creating and Managing Invoices

This article is your savior if you are struggling to understand the working of invoices and the complexities related to it.
R
Rashmi Kashyap
9 Sep, 2025 - Updated  4 days ago

 

Feature Availability 

Vtiger Editions: One Growth | One Pilot | One Professional | One Enterprise | One AI

Introduction to Invoices

An invoice is a non-negotiable itemized statement issued for the products or services rendered to the customer.

Statuses in an Invoice

The following are the statuses in an Invoice:

  • Created: When an invoice is created, the status is set to Created.
  • AutoCreated: When the invoice is created automatically, the status is set to AutoCreated.
  • Overdue: When the payment is not made by the expected date, the status is set to Overdue.
  • Partially Paid: When the amount is partially paid and not complete, the status is set to Partially Paid. 
  • Sent: The Invoice has been created and sent for approval.
  • Approved: Once the Invoice is received, it is reviewed, and the status is set to approved.
  • Initiated: The payment is initiated.
  • Sent: The invoice is sent for approval.
  • Credit Invoice: A credit invoice status is to let a client know that a refund or credit is due to them.
  • Paid: The total payment is made, and the status is set to Paid.
  • Cancel: The Invoice is canceled.
  • In Progress: The Invoice is in progress.

Key Terminology

 

Field name

Description

Organization Name

The organization to which the invoice is associated.

Contact name

The name of the contact related to the invoice.

Assigned To

The user or the group to whom the invoice is assigned.

Billing Address

The address where bills are sent to, and connected to a credit/debit card. Hence, the billing address will default to the related Deal's company address.

Shipping Address

The address where the customer would like the invoice to be delivered. By default, the shipping address will be the same as the billing address.

Item Name

The name of the product or service against which the invoice is created.

Quantity

The count of the products or services that were returned by the customer.

Creating an Invoice

You can create an invoice from the following screens:

  • Invoices List View > Using the Add Invoice button
  • Quick Create (on all screens of the CRM)
  • From Deals 

From Invoices’ List View 

You can use the +Add Invoice button to create a new invoice.
Follow these steps to create a new invoice:

  1. Log in to the CRM.
  2. Click the Menu icon.
  3. Go to Inventory 
  4. Select the Invoices module.
  5. Click the +Add Invoice button.
  6. Fill in all the necessary details.
  7. Click Save. 

From Deals

You can create an invoice through a deal with the More button. This option provides a way to add an invoice either by creating it from scratch or by duplicating one of the recently created invoices. 
Follow these steps to add an invoice from the More button in Deals:

  1. Log in to the CRM.
  2. Click the Menu icon.
  3. Go to the Sales tab.
  4. Select the Deals module.
  5. Open any particular deal.
  6. In the Summary View, click the Do button on the top right-hand corner of the screen.
  7. Click the Add or Create button.
  8. Click on Invoices.
  9. Enter all the necessary details.
  10. Click Save.

This newly created invoice would be linked to the deal. It is visible in the Sales Ops widget in the Summary View of the record.

Configuring Invoice Details

You can configure fields like Taxes, Tax regions, Shipping Charges (if any), and Terms and Conditions from the Settings > Inventory Management section.
Note:

  • These actions are limited to the Admin role only.
  • To learn about Tax management and how to set up Taxes and other fields, click here.

You can configure the following details for an invoice:

  1. Tax regions: You can set up taxes based on a region. Regions are set up in the Tax Settings screen.
  2. Currency: It is the same as the currency defined in a deal. Invoice Line item currency is the same as record-level currency.
  3. If the currency is changed from the Configure button, it will reflect on all the line items.
  4. Tax mode:
    1. Group Taxes: If there are multiple products/services in the inventory, group taxes help in populating tax rates according to specific tax calculations.
    2. Individual Taxes: You can enable this option while creating an invoice. You can apply taxes for individual items in an invoice by clicking the Configure button on the invoice. 
    3. Note: The default Tax mode is set based on the option set in the Tax Management page by the administrator. This can be overridden on an Invoice level from the Invoice Configuration pop-up.
  5. Price Books: It allows you to define different prices for your products and services. Prices of these items can vary anytime depending on the customers and their needs.
    1. There are two ways in which you can add a price book to the line items in an invoice:
      1. You can add a price book that will apply to all the line items by clicking the Configure button and selecting the price book.
      2. You can add different prices for individual line items by clicking the Price Book icon.
    2. When a Price Book is selected or changed, the system updates the unit prices of all line items based on only one of the selected Price Books, i.e., either the group price or the individual price. To know more about Price Books, click here.
  6. Discounts:
    1. You can apply two types of discounts on the line items in an invoice:
      1. Overall discount: You can apply an overall discount on all the line items as a percentage or specify the direct amount.
      2. Individual discount: This option will give you the chance to apply a discount for each individual line item separately. Here also, you can apply the discount as a percentage or a direct amount.
    2. Unlike Price Books, here both the individual and the overall discount can be applied to the line items in the invoice.
  7. Shipping Charges: Shipping Charges are the additional amount charged by the company’s sales team for shipping the product to the customer.
  8. Adjustments: This option allows you to round off the total amount to the next value or the previous value based on the decimal number.
Note: You can customize and add or remove fields by going to the Module Layouts and Fields under Settings.

Adding Line Items to an Invoice

You can add new Line Item records for a new product or service, or you can add a new section in the existing invoice by editing the Item Details block.

Adding a Product or Service

Follow these steps to add a Product or Service to an invoice:
  1. Log in to the CRM.
  2. Click the Menu icon.
  3. Go to the Inventory tab.
  4. Select the Invoices module.
  5. Click +Add Invoice and 
  6. Fill in the necessary details.
    1. You can use the Expand and Collapse the text fields in the Line Items block, such as Item Comment and CustomText area fields.
    2. For example, you can enlarge the Item details section > Item Name field to enter a descriptive text. 
  7. Open the recently created invoice.
  8. Click Edit.
  9. Go to the Item Details block.
  10. Enter or select the following information to add the Line Items:
    1. Add Product or Service row: Click to add the product or service to the Deal record.
    2. More: Click More next to the line item number.
      1. Add Product Row: Add a new product line next to an existing line item.
      2. Add Service Row: Add a new service line next to an existing line item.
  11. Click Save. 
Note: The More option becomes visible only when more than one line item is added.

Adding a new section

Follow these steps to add a new section to an invoice:
  1. Log in to the CRM.
  2. Click the Menu icon.
  3. Go to the Inventory tab.
  4. Select the Invoices module.
  5. Select any particular invoice. 
  6. Click Edit.
  7. Go to the Item Details block.
  8. Enter or select the following information to add Sections:
    1. Add section: Click to add a new Section.
    2. More: Click More next to the line item number.
      1. Add Section: Click to add a new section to group related line items. 
  9. Click Save.

Note: The More option becomes visible only when more than one line item is added.

Adding a picklist field to an Invoice Line Item block

Follow these steps to add a picklist field to the Line Item block in an invoice:

  1. Log in to the CRM.
  2. Go to the Main Menu.
  3. Click Settings.
  4. Select Module Layouts and Fields under the Module Management tab.
  5. Select Invoices.
  6. Scroll down to the Item Details block.
  7. Click Add Custom Field.
  8. Select Field type as Picklist.
  9. Add picklist values.
  10. Click Save.

Editing picklist values in an Invoice Line Item block

Follow these steps to edit picklist values in an Invoice Line Item block:

  1. Log in to the CRM.
  2. Go to the Main Menu.
  3. Click Settings.
  4. Select Picklist Field Values under the Configurations tab.
  5. Select Invoices.
  6. Select the Picklist Field.
  7. Click +Add Value to add custom values
  8. Enter the value details.
  9. Click Save.
Note: 
  • If you delete a value from the Picklist Editor, then it needs to be replaced in all the line items of the Inventory record.
  • Role-based Picklist field value assignment is not available.
  • You can also select a particular product by entering the first three characters of the product name in the Type to search bar or by clicking the product button and selecting the product from the list of all available products.

Invoice Actions - Sharing an invoice 

You can share an invoice with a customer by sending a link to the invoice or by sending the invoice itself as an attachment.

Sharing an Invoice as a link

Follow these steps to share the invoice as a link:
  1. Log in to the CRM.
  2. Click the main Menu.
  3. Go to Inventory.
  4. Select the Invoices module. The Invoices page opens.
  5. Click to open the invoice record. The Summary View opens.
  6. Click More.
  7. Select Share.
  8. Select Share as link. The Mail compose window opens with the invoice link.
  9. Enter the recipient's details.
  10. Click Send.

Sharing an Invoice as an attachment

Follow these steps to share the invoice as an attachment:

  1. Log in to the CRM.
  2. Click the main Menu.
  3. Go to Inventory.
  4. Select the Invoices module. The Invoices page opens.
  5. Click to open the invoice record. The Summary View opens.
  6. Click More.
  7. Select Share.
  8. Select Share as attachment. A mail compose window opens with the invoice attachment.
  9. Enter the recipient's details.
  10. Click Send.

Invoice Actions - Generating Related Documents

Adding Documents

Use Vtiger’s Documents module to solve the problems of organizing and sharing! It acts as a repository for all the documents that you create or those shared with you by your customers or sales team. 

Follow these steps to add a document:

  1. Log in to the CRM.
  2. Click the Menu icon.
  3. Go to the Inventory tab.
  4. Select the Invoices module.
  5. Click to open the invoice record. The Summary View opens.
  6. Click the Add or Create button.
  7. Select Documents.
  8. Here, you see two options on your screen:
    1. Select Documents - If you want to add an existing document, select this option.
      1. Hover over a record in the list of all existing documents to display the radio buttons.
      2. Click the radio button on the left side of the record to select the record.
      3. Click Add Selected button present below the list.
    2. Create Documents
      1. If you want to add a new document, select this option.
      2. Fill in all the necessary details.
    3. Click Save.

The linked document will be seen in the Documents widget in the Summary View of the invoice record.

Generating an Asset

Assets are tangible or intangible resources that are rendered to your customers. 
Follow these steps to generate an asset:

  1. Log in to the CRM.
  2. Click the Menu icon.
  3. Go to the Inventory tab.
  4. Select the Invoices module.
  5. Click to open the invoice record. The Summary View opens.
  6. Select Add or Create.
  7. Select Assets.
  8. Fill in all the necessary details.
  9. Click Save to create the asset record.
    1. Click Save and Continue to add more information.

The newly created asset will be linked to the invoice.

Generating a Credit Note

A credit note is the amount that must be paid back to the customer as credits on the invoice or as refunds.
Follow these steps to generate a credit note:

  1. Log in to the CRM.
  2. Click the Menu icon.
  3. Go to the Inventory tab.
  4. Select the Invoices module.
  5. Open any particular invoice. The Summary View opens.
  6. Click the More icon. 
  7. Click the Add or Create button.
  8. Click on Credit Notes.
  9. Enter all the necessary details.
  10. Click Save to create the credit note.

This newly created credit note will be linked to the invoice.

Generating a Payment

Vtiger CRM allows you to link all the payments and transactions related to that particular invoice. 
Follow these steps to generate a payment:

  1. Log in to the CRM.
  2. Click the Menu icon.
  3. Go to the Inventory tab.
  4. Select the Invoices module.
  5. Click the Do button in the Summary View.
  6. Select Add or Create.
  7. Select  Payments.
  8. Fill in all the necessary details.
  9. Click Save to create the payment record.
    1. Click Save and Continue to add more information.
The payment will be created and linked to the invoice.

Note: For an automatic update of the invoice and payment status, the customer needs to copy the silent URL from Vtiger CRM and paste it into the authorized accounts settings page. Once this is done, the payment and invoice will get automatically updated once they have made the payment.

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Generating a Purchase Order

A Purchase order (PO) is the first official offer issued by a customer to the company’s sales team, indicating types, quantities, and agreed prices for products or services.
Follow these steps to generate a PO for an invoice:

  1. Log in to the CRM.
  2. Click the Menu icon.
  3. Go to the Inventory tab.
  4. Select the Invoices module.
  5. Click the Do button in the Summary View.
  6. Select Add or Create.
  7. Select  Purchase Orders.
  8. Fill in all the necessary details.
  9. Click Save.

The PO will be created and linked to the invoice.

Generating a Subscription

A subscription is the amount of money that the customer has to pay regularly in order to receive a product or a service.
Follow these steps to generate a subscription:

  1. Log in to the CRM.
  2. Click the Menu icon.
  3. Go to the Inventory tab.
  4. Select the Invoices module.
  5. Click the Do button in the Summary View.
  6. Select Add or Create.
  7. Select  Subscriptions.
  8. Fill in all the necessary details.
  9. Click Save.

The subscription will be created and linked to the invoice.

Exporting an Invoice record

Exporting is a process of saving the invoice as a PDF on the local machine or sending the invoice link as a PDF via email.
Follow these steps to export an invoice:

  1. Log in to the CRM.
  2. Click the Menu icon.
  3. Go to the Inventory tab.
  4. Select the Invoices module. The Invoices page opens.
  5. Hover over any invoice record to display the radio button on the left side.
  6. Click the radio button.
  7. Click the Export icon.
  8. Select any one of the following options:
    1. Export Selected Records- This option will export only the selected record.
    2. Export data in the current page- This option will export the records on the current page.
    3. Export all data- This option will export all the data in all the pages of the Project Tasks module.

The exported record will be saved on your local system 

Printing an Invoice

Printing is a process of obtaining the invoice as a hard copy.
Follow these steps to print an invoice:

  1. Log in to the CRM.
  2. Click the main Menu.
  3. Go to the Inventory tab.
  4. Select the Invoices module.
  5. Open any invoice record.
  6. Click the More button.
  7. Click the Print button. The screen displays the following options:
    1. Edit & Export- You can edit the invoice and export it to your local system.
    2. Email with PDF- You can email the invoice record as a PDF to the contact.
    3. Print- You can print the invoice and keep a hard copy.
    4. Save as PDF- You can save the invoice as a PDF on your local system.

Populating the Shipping Address field

When you try to print an invoice, you can see that it has been printed in a specific template. Vtiger CRM offers a set of default templates to select. If the default template is not to your liking. When creating a Print Template for an invoice, the name of the selected address in the Shipping Address section can be displayed in the template. This is particularly useful when an Organization has multiple addresses stored in the system. To ensure the correct address is displayed:

  • Add multiple addresses to the related Organization record.
  • In the Invoices, go to Shipping Address > use the Copy Shipping Address From field to select the appropriate address.

The selected address will be used in the Shipping Address field and can be dynamically shown in the Print Template.

Changing the template of an Invoice

There are two ways in which you can change the template of an invoice.

  • Change the template of a quote from the print invoice screen. This is a temporary change only until the invoice is printed.
  • Change the template of the invoice from the settings widget. This is a permanent change and will be applied to the invoice immediately.

Changing the template of a quote from the print invoice screen

Follow these steps to change the template of a quote:

  1. Log in to the CRM.
  2. Click the Menu icon.
  3. Go to the Inventory tab.
  4. Select the Invoices module.
  5. Open any invoice.
  6. Click the More button.
  7. Click the Print button.
  8. Select the template you want from the list of all templates.
  9. You can perform any of the following options:
    1. Edit & Export - You can edit the invoice and export it to your local system.
    2. Email with PDF - You can email the invoice record as a PDF to the contact.
    3. Print - You can print the invoice and keep a hard copy.
    4. Save as PDF - You can save the invoice as a PDF on your local system.

Changing the template of the invoice from the settings widget.

Follow these steps to change the template of the invoice from the settings widget:
  1. Log in to the CRM.
  2. Click the Menu icon.
  3. Go to the Inventory tab.
  4. Select the Invoices module.
  5. Open any quote.
  6. Go to the Settings Widget.
  7. Click the Template applied drop-down.
  8. Select the template of your choice.

The template will be applied to the invoice instantly.

Adding Credit Amount to Invoices

Worrying about what to do when your customer returns the delivered products or they are not satisfied with the product? 
You can create Credit Notes and apply the amount on invoices as credits.
Follow these steps to apply for credit on invoices.

  1. Log in to the CRM.
  2. Click the Menu icon.
  3. Go to the Inventory tab.
  4. Select the Invoices module.
  5. Open any particular invoice.
  6. In the Summary View, click the +Do button on the top right-hand corner of the screen.
  7. Click the Add or Create button.
  8. Click on Credit Notes.
  9. Enter all the necessary details.
  10. Click Save to create the credit note.
  11. In the Summary View, click the Apply Credits button.
  12. Credit notes applicable to the current invoice will be displayed.
  13. Select the credit note from which you want to apply the credit amount.
  14. Enter the amount you want to apply to the invoice in the Amount to Credit field.
  15. Click Apply. The credits will be applied to the invoice, and the credit note will be linked to the invoice.
  The credit note will be visible in the Sales Ops widget in the Invoices’ Summary View.

Note:
  • The Balance field in an invoice will be updated every time a related payment record is created.
  • You can also create a new credit note independent of the invoice by going to Inventory>Credit Notes. To know more about Credit Notes, click here.

Viewing Invoice Details

List View in Invoices

By default, the ListView is the screen that is visible when you click the Invoices module. This view sorts and lists all invoices based on the last modified invoice.

Columns in List View 

The columns that are visible by default in the List View are :
  • Subject- Displays the name of the invoice.
  • Organization Name- Displays the name of the organization linked to the invoice.
  • Contact Name- Displays the name of the contact to which the invoice is created.
  • Assigned To- Displays the user to whom the invoice is assigned.
  • Status- Displays the status of the invoice.
  • Sales Order- Displays the name of the sales order linked to the invoice. 
  • Total- Displays the amount mentioned in the invoice.
  • Invoice Number- Displays the invoice number.

 List actions

You can perform quick actions such as Edit, Delete, Email, Comment, etc. on the invoice’s records in the List View.
To learn more about List View actions in Vtiger CRM, click here.

Summary View

Summary View is the view that appears when you click a particular record from the ListView. Summary View displays a collection of all key information for the selected record.
Summary View displays data in different sections for easy viewing. Each section allows you a particular functionality.

  • Summary View Actions
    • Follow: You can follow any invoice record to get updates on all the activities performed on that record.
    • Tags: You can add tag names to a record to identify the record easily.
    • Print: You can print an invoice or save it as a PDF for future reference.
    • Duplicate: You can duplicate a current record and have all the details reflected into a new record.
    • Delete: You can delete a record by clicking this button.
  • Invoice document: The generated invoice, along with the template, will be displayed here.
  • Widgets: 
    • One View- All the modules related to the invoice are displayed here. 
    • Tasks-All the tasks related to the invoice are displayed here. You can also do a new task from here by clicking the + button.
    • Events- All the events related to the invoice are displayed here. You can also see a new event from here by clicking the + button.
    • Activity-All the activities made on the invoice are displayed here. Here you can add comments related to the invoice.
    • Analytics-You can view all the metrics related to the invoice in the form of charts, mini-lists, etc. You can also create new ones here.
  • Documents- You can create a new document or add an existing document to the invoice. All the related document details are displayed here.
  • Items- You can view the assets linked to the invoice or create a new asset.
  • Sales Ops- You can view the credit notes linked to the invoice or create a new credit note.
  • Settings- You can change the template of the invoice here.
  • More Icon: You can view and edit all the information for an Invoice record by clicking the More icon in the Summary view of the record.

Grid View

Grid View is a table-like layout that shows data in rows and columns, similar to a spreadsheet. It lets you view and edit multiple records at once on the same page. You can edit specific field details in a record, just like editing a cell in a spreadsheet. The view resembles the List View but allows additional actions like editing, rearranging columns, and bulk updates

One View in Invoices

The One View widget in the Invoices module will show the following details:

  • Related Company details - Parent company’s details are shown in this widget.
  • Related Contact details  - Parent contact’s details
  • Related Deal data - Parent deal from which the invoice is created.
  • Related Quote - Related quote details from which the invoice is created.
  • Related Assets- Related Asset details generated from this invoice.
  • Related PO - Related PO details generated from this invoice.
  • Related WO - Related work order details for which this invoice was generated.
  • Related Subscription - Related active subscription details for which this invoice was generated.
  • Related Credit notes - List of credit notes related to this invoice.
  • Related Payments - Shows the last five payments received from the customer.

To learn more about One View in Vtiger CRM, click here. 

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